Neckties with internal, free-moving magnets for universal securing of any necktie

ABSTRACT

Use of internal free moving magnets for universal securing of any necktie, particularly reversible neckties is disclosed. The neckties described eliminate the need for any additional loop, clip, pin or mechanism to secure and retain the necktie tail in place. Lost or broken magnets and or any other necktie clipping devices are avoided. The consumer can have control of magnet location and necktie tail location behind the necktie, optimal to a wearer&#39;s body type. This can provide a premium, smooth, fashionable presentation of a necktie, regardless of the wearer&#39;s physique. In addition, an all-in-one contained solution for securing the necktie tail of a reversible two sided necktie is provided by the neckties described herein.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 to U.S. ProvisionalPatent Application No. 61/624,798, titled, “Use Of Internal Free MovingMagnets For Universal Securing Of Any Necktie, Particularly ReversibleNeckties,” filed Apr. 16, 2012, the disclosure of which is incorporatedby reference in its entirety herein. The priority date of thisprovisional application is claimed.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The subject matter described herein relates to adjustable neckties,particularly reversible neckties.

BACKGROUND

A common problem with standard neckties is that depending on the size ofthe person wearing the necktie, the size of the knot being tied, and/orthe size of the tie itself, it is often very difficult to prevent thetail of the tie from protruding beyond the front of the necktie. Bowties are also commonly made to a specific length. This type offabrication may cause a tied bow tie to fit loosely about a person'sneck.

The necktie tail loops that exist on standard ties are stitched in thecenter of the back of the tie and do not allow for any adjustment inorder to retain any length of tie tail remaining after tying. Also,current reversible neckties have no rear tie tail loops because eitherside of the reversible necktie can be displayed in front, so it is acommon problem when wearing a reversible necktie to retain and securethe tail behind the reversible necktie.

Current means of securing neckties include using pockets that containmagnets or magnetic material. By restricting the magnets to one place,such necktie securing methods do not allow for universal clippingregardless of the length of the tail left over after tying a tie.Additionally, using pockets, and not inserting the magnet directly intothe center of the fabric, makes such a tie very difficult tomanufacture. Other methods and systems for securing a reversible necktieinvolve changing the way the necktie is shaped or stitched, deviatingfrom the standard necktie manufacturing process, making it moreexpensive to manufacture.

SUMMARY

In one aspect, an apparatus includes a necktie having a tail end, adisplay end, a first side and a second side. The apparatus furtherincludes a first magnet disposed within the tail end of the necktie, thefirst magnet being configured to move freely within a first spacedefined in the tail end of the necktie. The apparatus further includes amagnetically attractive material disposed within the display end of thenecktie, the magnetically attractive material to interact with the firstmagnet to maintain the tail end against the display end.

In another aspect, a necktie is described. The necktie includes anelongated piece of fabric having a first side, a second side, a tail endand a display end, the first side having a first design pattern and thesecond side having a second design pattern that is different than thefirst design pattern. The necktie further includes a first magnetdisposed within the tail end of the elongated piece of fabric, the firstmagnet configured to move freely within a first space defined in thetail end of the elongated piece of fabric. The necktie further includesa magnetically attractive material disposed within the display end ofthe elongated piece of fabric, the magnetically attractive material tointeract with the first magnet to maintain the tail end against thedisplay end when the necktie is tied in a knot.

In yet another aspect, a method includes the steps of providing anecktie comprising a tail end, a display end, a first side and a secondside. The method further includes defining a first space defined in thetail end of the necktie, and disposing a first magnet within the firstspace defined in the tail end of the necktie, such that the first magnetmoves freely within the first space. The method further includesdisposing a magnetically attractive material within the display end ofthe necktie, the magnetically attractive material to interact with thefirst magnet to maintain the tail end against the display end when thenecktie is tied in a tie knot.

The details of one or more variations of the subject matter describedherein are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the descriptionbelow. Other features and advantages of the subject matter describedherein will be apparent from the description and drawings, and from theclaims. The claims that follow this disclosure are intended to definethe scope of the protected subject matter.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute apart of this specification, show certain aspects of the subject matterdisclosed herein and, together with the description, help explain someof the principles associated with the disclosed implementations. In thedrawings,

FIG. 1 is a schematic of a display side of an exemplary neck tie asdescribed herein;

FIG. 2 is a schematic of a tail side of an exemplary neck tie asdescribed herein;

FIG. 3 is a schematic of an exemplary neck tie with a small knot asdescribed herein;

FIG. 4 is a schematic of an exemplary neck tie with a large knot asdescribed herein;

FIG. 5 is a schematic of an exemplary neck tie showing the attractiveforces between the display side and the tail side as described herein;

FIG. 6 is a schematic of a bow tie as described herein, prior to tyingthe bow;

FIG. 7A and FIG. 7B show the bow tie of FIG. 6 in various stages ofbeing tied;

FIG. 8 shows a completed bow, and the bow tie prior to adjustment;

FIG. 9 shows a bow tie as described herein with the neck encirclingportion disconnected;

FIG. 10 shows a flow chart describing how to make a neck tie asdescribed herein; and

FIG. 11 shows a flow chart describing how to use a neck tie as describedherein.

When practical, similar reference numbers denote similar structures,features, or elements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As stated above, a common problem with standard neckties is thatdepending on the size of the person wearing the necktie, the size of theknot being tied, and/or the size of the tie itself, it can be difficultto prevent the tail of the tie from protruding beyond the front of thenecktie. The necktie tail loops that exist on standard ties are stitchedin the center of the back of the tie and do not allow for any adjustmentin order to retain any length of tie tail remaining after tying.Additionally, current reversible neckties have no rear tie tail loopsbecause either side of the reversible necktie can be displayed in front.This lack of rear tie tail loop in reversible neck ties can make itdifficult to retain and secure the tail behind a reversible neck tie.Methods, systems, articles of manufacture, and the like consistent withone or more implementations of the current subject matter can, amongother possible advantages, eliminate the need for any additional loop,clip, pin or mechanism to secure and retain the necktie tail in placeand properly size a bow tie about a wearer's neck.

Methods and systems presented herein for securing a necktie avoid lostor broken magnets and/or any other necktie clipping devices. Consumercontrol of magnet location and control of necktie tail location behindthe necktie, optimal to the wearer's body type, provide a premium,smooth, fashionable presentation of a necktie, regardless of thewearer's physique. In addition, when used with a reversible necktie, themethods and systems described herein create an all-in-one containedsolution for securing the necktie tail of a reversible two sided necktieor adjusting the tightness of a bow tie about a wearer's neck.

By inserting two individual magnets, one inside the larger display endof the necktie and one inside the thinner rear tail of the necktie, thetwo magnets can move freely up and down the inside of the fabric of thestitched necktie to allow for manual adjustment and securing of thedisplay side of the necktie to any possible length necktie tailremaining after tying. Because of the use of two free-moving magnets,such a necktie can be tied at any length or with any size knot and thenecktie tail can clip behind the tie magnetically every time, concealingit from view.

This solution is particularly advantageous for reversible neckties.Previously, reversible neckties had no optimal way of being secured inplace other than by using a necktie clip or pin that could damage anddistort the front, or display side, of the necktie. One current way ofsecuring a reversible necktie uses magnets that attach in front of thetie as ornaments for securing to a rear magnet that exists outside ofthe tie or inside a pocket on the wearer's shirt. The problem with thismethod of securing a tie is that if the necktie is pulled away from theshirt, the ornamental magnet on the front of the necktie or the magnetinside the shirt can magnetically disengage from the other, and themagnets can drop, either to the ground or inside the wearer's shirt.Disengagement between the magnets in such a tie securing system can leadto losing or damaging the magnets.

Bow ties currently come in standardized lengths, pre-tied ties, orclip-on bow ties. Pre-tied bow ties can have some means for adjusting tothe circumference of the wearer's neck, but many consider pre-tied bowties to be a faux pas, particularly for the most formal of occasions.Standard bow ties, those which are not pre-tied, may not allow thewearer to adjust the tie as it encircles his or her neck. There is onlyso much adjustment that can be done by varying the way in which the bowis tied. The bow ties described herein allow a wearer to compensate forvariations in physique using two magnets in the tie to adjust thelooseness or tightness of the tie about the wearer's neck.

FIG. 1 is a schematic of a display end 100 of an exemplary necktie. Thedisplay end 100 is typically wider than the rest of a necktie. Thenecktie in FIG. 1 is a reversible, or double sided, tie with a displayside A (denoted by 110) and a display side B 120. The reversible necktiedisplay end 100 also include a first magnet 130. Display side A 110 anddisplay side B 120 are stitched together along the perimeter of thenecktie, and between the display sides 110, 120, is the first magnet130.

FIG. 2 is a schematic of a tail end 200 of an exemplary necktie, such asthe exemplary necktie of FIG. 1. The necktie in FIG. 2 is alsoreversible. The tail side 200 of the necktie has a tie tail side A(denoted by 210) and a tie tail side B 220, as well as a second magnet230. As with the display side, the tie tail side A 210 and tie tail sideB 220 are stitched together along the perimeter of the necktie. Thesecond magnet 230 is placed inside the necktie between the tie tail sideA 210 and tie tail side B 220.

FIG. 3 is a schematic of an exemplary neck tie with a small knot 300.The necktie shown in FIG. 3 can be a reversible, or double-sided, tie orit can be a standard, one-sided tie. This necktie is shown with a smalltie knot 340, such that the tie tail end 200 of the tie hangs downalmost as much as the display side. The tie tail end 200, first magnet130, and second magnet are shown in outline (i.e. with broken lines), asthey would not ordinarily be seen. This is merely to illustrate therelative location of components of an exemplary necktie 300 when a smallknot 340 is tied. As shown, the first and second magnets 130, 230overlap towards the bottom end of each of the display side and the tietail end 200.

In contrast to the exemplary necktie shown in FIG. 3, FIG. 4 is aschematic of an exemplary necktie with a large knot 400. As in FIG. 3,portions of the necktie 400 are shown with broken lines, as they wouldnot ordinarily be seen. The necktie with a large knot 400 includes alarge knot 440, a display end 100, a tie tail end 200, and a first andsecond magnet 130, 230. As explained above, the first magnet 130 iswithin the two sides of the display end 100, and the second magnet 230is between the two sides of the tie tail end 200. In the necktie with alarge knot 400, shown in FIG. 4, the tie tail end 200 hangs down onlyabout half as much as the display end 100 to accommodate the size of theknot 440. The magnets 130, 230, are attracted to each other and overlapin an area that coincides with the bottom portion of the tie tail end200 and approximately the middle of the display end 100.

FIG. 5 is a schematic of an exemplary neck tie showing the attractiveforces 510 between the display side 100 and the tail side 200. Thenecktie has a display end 100 and a tie tail end 200. Inside of thedisplay side 100, is a first magnet 130, while inside the tie tail end200 is a second magnet 230. The first and second magnets 130, 230 arealigned such that their poles cause them to be attracted to each otherwith a magnetic force 510.

FIG. 6 is a schematic of a bow tie 600, prior to tying the bow. The bowtie 600 has two individual bow tie ends, 610 and 620; two neck portion630, 640, respectively; and a joining portion 650. Each of the bow tieends 610, 620 has a neck portion 630, 640, respectively. The twoportions of the bow tie 600 can connect, as shown, at the joiningportion 650. Within the ends of the neck portions 630,640 that overlapat the joining portion 650 are pieces of material that are magneticallyattracted to each other, such as magnets or a magnet and a magneticallyattractive material, such as a ferrous metal. These pieces of materialcan move relative to each other and the fabric of the tie 600,particularly within the neck portions 630, 640, so as to tighten orloosen the bow tie about a wearer's neck. As shown, the bow tie 600 is areversible bow tie, and the user, or wearer, selects which pattern orcolor will be seen once the tie is worn.

FIG. 7A and FIG. 7B show the bow tie 600 in various stages of beingtied. In FIG. 7A, the bow tie ends 610, 620 have been moved in thebeginnings of a shoe-tying knot. The bow tie ends 610,620 have beenmanipulated further in FIG. 7B, and the bow 660 of the tie is almostcompletely tied.

FIG. 8 shows a completed bow 660, and the bow tie 600 prior toadjustment. The tied bow tie 600 includes the bow 660, the neck portions630, 640, and the joining portion 650. The wearer or another user canslip magnetically attracted materials past each other in the parts ofthe neck portions 630, 640 within the joining portion 650 to adjust thecombined length of the neck portions 630, 640 to fit the wearer's neck.The ends of the neck portions 630,640 containing magnets or the like canfit through a tube of material in the joining portion. The magnets ormagnet and magnetically attractive material can remain stationary whilethe ends of the neck portions 630, 640 move past each other to createthe perfect fit about the wearer's neck.

FIG. 9 shows a bow tie 600 with the neck encircling portiondisconnected. In this configuration, the bow tie 600 includes a bow 660,neck portions 630,640; and ends of the neck portions 670, 680,respectively. As shown, the ends of the neck portions 670, 680 areseparated. This occurs when a wearer or other user wishes to remove thebow tie 600 without disturbing the bow 660. Such an instance might bewhen the wearer needs to temporarily loosen or remove the bow tie, whenthe wearer is done wearing the bow tie for a period of time but does notwish to re-tie the bow tie the next time he or she wears it, and thelike.

FIG. 10 shows a flow chart describing how to make a neck tie asdescribed herein. The neckties described herein can be constructed to beone or two-sided 1010. The type of neckties described herein can besimple to manufacture. The magnets can be inserted into the necktieduring or after the necktie is stitched closed, and these magnets canallow for adjustment of the ties to accommodate different physiques, asin 1020.

Once the fabric, thread, and rare earth magnets are procured, thenecktie can be stitched together by taking the fabric of onedesign/color and stitching it to another piece of fabric of contrastingor any other piece of fabric at the perimeter or seam. Before the finalstitching is made to close the front of the tie, a magnet is insertedinto the body of the front of the tie between the inside of the fabric.Another magnet is then inserted into the tail of the necktie in asimilar fashion. Once the two magnets are inserted into the necktie, thefinal stitching can be stitched to close the necktie ,creating acompleted necktie with two magnets inside which are free to movevertically up and down the inside of the necktie.

In greater detail, the display sides (110 and 130 in FIG. 1) arestitched together along the perimeter of the necktie during themanufacturing process. Prior to completing the final stitching to closethe display sides 110, 130, as shown in FIG. 1, the first magnet 130 isplaced inside the necktie between the display side A 110 and the displayside B 120 fabric. Once the first magnet 130 is inserted and betweendisplay side A 110 and display side B 120, the final stitches are madeto close the display end 100, leaving the tie tail side A 210 and tietail side B 220 portions of the fabric of the necktie unstitched. Thetie tail side A 210 and tie tail side B 220 then stitched together alongthe perimeter of the necktie starting where the display end 100terminates. Prior to completing the final stitching to close the tietail end 200, the second magnet 230 is placed inside the necktie betweenthe tie tail side A 210 and tie tail side B 220 fabric. Once the secondmagnet 230 is inserted between the tie tail side A 210 and tie tail sideB 220, the final stitching is executed to close the tie tail side A 210and tie tail side B 220, completing the stitching of the reversiblenecktie. When applying this fabrication process to a standard necktie(i.e. non-reversible necktie), the same process above applies except thestitching to close the tie occurs along the profile of the regular tieshapes after the first and second magnets 130, 230 are added to thedisplay end 100 and tail end 200 of the necktie.

The magnets used in neckties described herein can be any suitably strongmagnet. Suitably strong magnets include those with surface fieldsstrength of around 1.25 Tesla (approximately 12,500 Gauss), magnetswhich can lift approximately 9 kg of mass, such as rare-earth magnets.In some implementations, magnets with such strong magnetic fields maynot be desirable, due to medical reasons, safety reasons, dataprotection or the like. In such cases, magnets with surface fieldstrengths of less than 1.25 Tesla, such as less than 1 Tesla can beused.

At least two magnets or the equivalent of one magnet and one ferrousmetal are necessary in order to allow for clipping of the tail of thenecktie to the front display end of the necktie. Stitching along theperimeter of two display sides of a necktie creating is not necessaryunless creating a reversible necktie. The same two or more magnets orequivalent of one magnet and one ferrous metal can be added to aconventional (regular) style necktie resulting in the same magneticretaining of the tail and display side of the necktie as in the case ofthe reversible necktie described above.

One of the magnets, or any magnetically attractive material (ferrousmetal), can exist outside of the necktie while the remaining magnet ormagnets can exist inside the necktie. This method can create the samemagnetic attraction required for retaining of the tail to the displayside of the necktie. This method can still allow for adjustment of atleast one magnet or any magnetically attractive material (ferrous metal)inside of the tie that moves freely, thus allowing for retaining of anysize tail remaining after tying of the necktie. The same adjustmentbenefit can be achieved by stitching one magnet such that it is staticwithin the necktie while leaving the other magnet or magneticallyattractive material (ferrous metal) loose inside the necktie to allowfor universal adjustment of the necktie tail. Both magnets (or one ormore magnet and one or more magnetically attractive material) do notneed to be freely moving to accomplish the same results as describedabove. Also, the use of at least one free moving magnet or anymagnetically attractive material (ferrous metal) inside a necktie canapply to standard and reversible neckties, as well as to any necktiethat requires retaining of the necktie tail and the display end of thenecktie or garment. In some implementations, an internal barrier can bestitched inside the necktie to divide the two magnets from accidentlymagnetically attracting while inside of the necktie, becoming attachedwithout any fabric between the magnets and creating a nuisance for thewearer. The magnets or magnetically attractive material (ferrous metal)placed inside the necktie can be of any shape, including disk shaped,spherically shaped, rectangular in shape, or any other shape.

FIG. 11 shows a flow chart describing how to use a neck tie as describedherein. In the case of a reversible tie, the wearer or other userdecides which side of the tie will be forward, or displayed, as in 1110.The wearer positions the magnets or magnet and magnetically attractivematerial in the tie appropriately, so that adjustments can be made aftertying the tie, as in 1120. In 1130, the wearer ties the magnetic necktielike any other necktie. In the case of a standard necktie (i.e. a tiethat is not a bow tie), the wearer can tie any size knot desired at anylength. The wearer can then adjust the tie to his or her physique bymoving the magnets or magnetically attractive material, as in 1140. Anexample of this would be when the display side of the necktie is tippedvertically by the wearer to allow the magnet inside of the display sideof the necktie to fall within the necktie towards the magnet in the tailof the necktie. Once the two magnets magnetically attract then thenecktie can be laid flat on the wearer's shirt and left alone,displaying the necktie and preventing the tail of the necktie fromprotruding beyond the front of the necktie or allowing a bow tie to fitappropriately against the neck of the wearer, as in 1150. In some cases,such as with bow ties, the wearer might wish to remove the necktiewithout disturbing the bow or knot, as in 1160. In the case of a bowtie, this is easily accomplished as described above. With other types ofneckties, removing the necktie while preserving the knot can requiremoving the magnets or magnetically attractive material around andloosening the knot carefully while removing the tie from around thewearer's neck.

The same concept of allowing for manual adjustment and clipping offabric through use of at least one free moving magnets or magneticallyattractive material (ferrous metal) within a piece of garment or fabriccan be applied to other fields of technology such as inside the body ofthe fabric of suit pants to close pockets as opposed to using buttons orzippers for example.

The subject matter described herein can be embodied in systems,apparatus, methods, and/or articles depending on the desiredconfiguration. The implementations set forth in the foregoingdescription do not represent all implementations consistent with thesubject matter described herein. Instead, they are merely some examplesconsistent with aspects related to the described subject matter.Although a few variations have been described in detail above, othermodifications or additions are possible. In particular, further featuresand/or variations can be provided in addition to those set forth herein.For example, the implementations described above can be directed tovarious combinations and subcombinations of the disclosed featuresand/or combinations and subcombinations of several further featuresdisclosed above. In addition, the logic flows depicted in theaccompanying figures and/or described herein do not necessarily requirethe particular order shown, or sequential order, to achieve desirableresults. Other implementations may be within the scope of the followingclaims.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus comprising: a necktie comprising atail end, a display end, a first side and a second side; a first magnetdisposed within the tail end of the necktie, the first magnet configuredto move freely within a first space defined in the tail end of thenecktie; and a magnetically attractive material disposed within thedisplay end of the necktie, the magnetically attractive material tointeract with the first magnet to maintain the tail end against thedisplay end.
 2. The apparatus in accordance with claim 1, wherein themagnetically attractive material includes a second magnet.
 3. Theapparatus in accordance with claim 1, wherein the first magnet is a rareearth magnet.
 4. The apparatus in accordance with claim 1, wherein thefirst side of the necktie includes a first design pattern.
 5. Theapparatus in accordance with claim 4, wherein the second side of thenecktie includes a second design pattern that is different than thefirst design pattern.
 6. The apparatus in accordance with claim 1,wherein the magnetically attractive material includes a metallic fabric.7. The apparatus in accordance with claim 1, wherein the first spacedefined in the tail end of the necktie is defined by stitching around aperiphery of the first space.
 8. A necktie comprising: an elongatedpiece of fabric having a first side, a second side, a tail end and adisplay end, the first side having a first design pattern and the secondside having a second design pattern that is different than the firstdesign pattern; a first magnet disposed within the tail end of theelongated piece of fabric, the first magnet configured to move freelywithin a first space defined in the tail end of the elongated piece offabric; and a magnetically attractive material disposed within thedisplay end of the elongated piece of fabric, the magneticallyattractive material to interact with the first magnet to maintain thetail end against the display end when the necktie is tied in a knot. 9.The necktie in accordance with claim 8, wherein the magneticallyattractive material includes a second magnet.
 10. The necktie inaccordance with claim 8, wherein the first magnet is a rare earthmagnet.
 11. The necktie in accordance with claim 8, wherein themagnetically attractive material includes a metallic fabric.
 12. Thenecktie in accordance with claim 8, wherein the first space defined inthe tail end of the necktie is defined by stitching around a peripheryof the first space.
 13. The necktie in accordance with claim 8, whereinthe elongated piece of fabric is made of silk.
 14. A method comprising:providing a necktie comprising a tail end, a display end, a first sideand a second side; defining a first space defined in the tail end of thenecktie disposing a first magnet within the first space defined in thetail end of the necktie, such that the first magnet moves freely withinthe first space; and disposing a magnetically attractive material withinthe display end of the necktie, the magnetically attractive material tointeract with the first magnet to maintain the tail end against thedisplay end when the necktie is tied in a tie knot.
 15. The necktie inaccordance with claim 14, wherein the magnetically attractive materialincludes a second magnet.
 16. The necktie in accordance with claim 14,wherein the first magnet is a rare earth magnet.
 17. The necktie inaccordance with claim 14, wherein the magnetically attractive materialincludes a metallic fabric.
 18. The necktie in accordance with claim 14,wherein the first space defined in the tail end of the necktie isdefined by stitching around a periphery of the first space.